Tufting My Heart Out

Back in July, when things were slowing down for the summer, I finally invested in something I’ve been wanting to try for years: tufting. My current body of fiber art keeps getting bigger in size & more and more textured. Plus, my background in commercial interior design has given me a major soft spot for textiles and carpet, so all of that seemed like the perfect combination of reasons to try out this new technique. However, by the time my tufting guns, frame, and materials arrived in early August, I was neck deep in commissions and fall season craft show prep. The box sat unopened in my studio until the week of Christmas, when I finally came up for air.

If you’re not familiar with tufting, it’s kind of like a sewing machine gun for making rugs (or art, or home decor, or whatever you can imagine). Yarn is threaded through the gun, and it pushes the yarn through the foundation fabric. A loop gun gets you tight loops, like you might see in commercial carpet. A “cut” gun gets you cut pile, which is what you probably have in your home (plush yarn fibers sticking straight up from the floor).

Learning something new is very exciting for me, and it’s so tricky to make time for these things, but it’s always worth it. I just recently got to try out my new glorious tools and it was worth the 6 month delay! I took an online training course last week and got started experimenting with the different guns and yarn options right away. Definitely a major learning curve coming from doing every little stitch by hand to a piece of machinery like this, but after a few practice pieces I finally got the hang of things. The gun is almost too fast, compared to what I’m used to, but one of the big reasons I wanted to try it was to be able to speed things up a little with my work. I’m not rushing things, I just dream BIG!

I have really enjoyed playing around with different yarn so far. Of course I started out only using the yarn that the instructor advised, but then once you learn the rules, you’re free to break them, right? Some yarn, like thick rug yarn i use for punch needle projects, works fine but only as a single ply. Thinner yarn, like the nylon I received as a donation from Milliken Floors earlier this year, works well as a 2 or 3 ply.

I LOVE all the possible textures you can achieve with different yarn types, plus changing between the loop and the cut pile guns. I haven’t worked up the nerve to adjust the loop and pile heights yet, but believe me, it’s on my list of things to try once I get comfy with the basics. Until then, I’m here tufting my heart out and enjoying learning something new. Where has this been all my life!?

Mixed Media Collection: July 2021

I can never get enough texture, and ever since I learned rug hooking and punch needle, and how it could compliment my decade of needle felting experience, I’ve been falling in love with the layers, colors, and depth made possible by working with yarn, wool fiber, and fabric, all at once.

These mixed media pieces have been such a joy to make, but dang, they’re slow. I thought needle felting was slow, but it feels like a breeze compared to this! I have only ever had 2 or 3 pieces available at a time in the past, so this summer my goal was to have a substantial collection to offer. 7 pieces may not sound like a lot but it’s weeks and weeks worth of work, plus one of those pieces is 24x36 which is by far my largest mixed media piece to date. I’m so happy to work large!

One other idea I have had floating around in my head was adding embroidery or stitching to these mixed media pieces. That’s the beauty of mixed media - no rules and anything goes! I’m thrilled with how the wild flowers turned out, my very first attempts at hand stitching tiny details with yarn.

Enjoy the new series (now available on the website) and be sure to check out the process video so you can see one of these made from start to finish.

My Favorite Needle Felting Resources

Here it is, you hit the jackpot! This is a comprehensive list of my favorite needle felting supply resources that has been in the making since I started felting in 2009. I will update this list regularly so check back in the future in case I’ve come across any new stores, websites, or fiber festivals.

And of course if you know of some awesome needle felting resources and want to share, please do so in the comments below!

Online suppliers:

I have been shopping at these first two websites since 2009 and get about 50% of my total yearly supplies from those two companies. They have consistent colors (and a huge assortment). They also carry needles, foam pads, and wool fabric. Kits are available as well. If you shop at the Felted Ewe, tell Tina that Once Again Sam sent you!

https://www.thefeltedewe.com/
https://www.weircrafts.com/
https://dorrmillstore.com/

https://bearcreekfelting.com/

Local Craft Stores:

Your local craft store may carry some needle felting supplies, but I find they're somewhat limited. They will most likely carry small 0.5 oz. bags of roving, which is fine for smaller projects. It’s a little more expensive to purchase this way, but if you’re just starting out and want to try out a few colors before you load up your craft room with pounds and pounds of roving, this is a perfectly fine way to go.

Craft stores often have combo packs of different roving colors and usually an assorted pack of needles as well. If you like to work from kits, they’re bound to have some of those too!

Micheals

Hobby Lobby

Joann Fabrics

Regional Supply Stores:

Both of these stores have roving by the ounce, which is fantastic. You just pull off the amount of the color you want, they weigh it, and you pay for that amount. I wish I could buy all of my roving this way.

Asheville, North Carolina: Earth Guild

Newport, New Hampshire: Dorr Mill

Fiber Festivals:

If you happen to be in a state that has a wool festival, go check it out in person! It's well worth the drive. You can buy everything you'd ever dream of having for your needle felting journey, including a pet sheep if you’re so inclined (and I am, believe me…it’s just convincing my husband that we can have a sheep here in the suburbs).

Most of these festivals also have classes and demos available. I can’t say enough about them - they’re incredible! This is a quick video tour from my last time visiting the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF).

These are a few fiber fairs I have personally attended and highly recommend. 

North Carolina: SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair): https://saffsite.org/

North Carolina: Carolina Fiber Fest http://www.carolinafiberfest.org/

Maryland: The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival ​​​​​​​https://sheepandwool.org/

Here’s a peek at some needle felting terminology, just so you know what you’re looking for (or googling). I wish I had know these terms when I first started out needle felting in 2009. I would have saved myself a lot of trouble!

Terminology:

Roving: wool fiber which has been cleaned, combed, and dyed. It’s used for the top layer in needle felting. Roving usually comes in a long “rope” that’s rolled into a ball. 

Batt or Core fiber: wool fiber that has been cleaned and can be dyed (though it can also be natural since it’s going to be covered up with roving). It’s used for building up a 3D shape and is typically fluffier than roving, so it’s great for adding bulk.  

Raw Fleece or “Locks”: unprocessed fiber that has maximum texture and curl. 

Photo by Eli Warren

Types of Fiber:

You can felt with fiber from sheep, alpacas, and even rabbit fur & dog hair. My favorite fiber for needle felting is coarse sheep’s wool, specifically from Corriedale and Blue Faced Leicester breeds. 

Tools: 

Needles: felting needles are specialized because they have tiny inverted barbs which agitate and pull the fiber tight with each poke. I usually stick with a 38 gauge needles. If you want a fine finishing needle, a 42 gauge is a good option, but these break very easily. Needles can come in a spiral, triangle, or star shape. I highly recommend using a spiral shape - the barbs are oriented in a twist around the needle shaft, and it helps grab more fiber every time you poke the needle into your workpiece. It’s a tiny short cut, but I love it!

Needle Holders: You don’t technically have to have one, but they can be useful and make felting more comfortable. I use my single needle holder daily, my 4 needle holder regularly, and I have holders for 6, 12, and 24 needles as well, but don’t use them as often unless I’m working on something huge. 

Feting pad: a dense foam worksurface you keep on your lap or table top while you felt. I recommend a felting pad that’s 2” thick. They come in many sizes - i have some that are 4x4, some that are 24x26, but I use my 8x10 the most. I also have a “felting pillow” I like from Bear Creak Felting & Design.

I teach many workshops a year (and virtual courses too!) so if I can help you in your needle felting journey, please reach out. I love this medium and I hope you do too! Be sure to checkout some of my process videos on YouTube so you can see how this magical medium works.

Alpacas & Art

Yes, you've seen other Alpaca-related blog posts here if you've been a reader for awhile. Here's another one! I'm a little obsessed with these sweet-faced creatures, but it's not just because they're so stinking adorable. They're also part of my art. Literally. 

Recently, I visited my dad and his wife at their new home in Brandon, VT (it's actually a very old home - built in 1880 - but it's new to them). They recently retired there, and I can see why. It's such a beautiful place! Just down the country road from their horse farm was an unexpected surprise. Maple Creek Farms is home to a few dozen alpacas, which is already enough to get me excited, but then I learned they actually process all of the fiber onsite and have a mini-factory for making roving, batting, and even yarn. All the things I'm interested in! 

I've been a knitter and felt fiber artist for almost 10 years now, so I know my materials and I work with a variety of tools every single day, but I have never actually seen how fleece is processed before I get my hands on it. I always buy roving and yarn that's completely ready for use - I don't do any cleaning or dying myself, so seeing how the fiber gets from the alpaca's back to a ball of colorful roving in my living room was quite the treat. 

Needless to say, I took about 100 pictures of the baby alpacas, some of which were just a few weeks old, and I stuffed my suitcase full of colorful roving for my return trip. I love seeing how things are made, and truly understanding the process by seeing it for myself, so this whole pit stop was right up my alley. Now I have an even deeper appreciation for the material I use every day. 

Alpaca Dreams

One day, maybe five years from now, or perhaps twenty five years, I would love to live on a small farm and raise alpacas. They are by far the sweetest animal I've ever encountered. They're fairly small, the tallest ones are about eye level with me, they hum, have long long eyelashes for flirting, and they each have their own unique hairstyle, it seems. But, the real reason I want alpacas in my life is because they are the source of one of the many materials I use in my fiber art. I spend a few hundred hours each year needle felting, and truly enjoy this tedious but highly rewarding form of fiber sculpture. It would be a joy to raise the creature that provides what I need to make more "felted curiosities", so I hope one day my alpaca farm dreams really do come true.

Sweet alpaca face

For now, I live in the burbs and sadly cannot keep an alpaca in the garage, so I get to visit the animals and buy their fiber from local farms at events like the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair in Asheville, NC. I've attended the festival for the last four years, and always come home with a couple of pounds of raw material, felting tools, and sometimes other things too. This year was no different! I scooped up several ounces of my favorite wool: corriedale, finn, and romney. I also got some alpaca fiber, which is a lot softer than sheep's wool, but is wonderful for felting and spinning. My big investment was a 24 needle holder, which looks dangerous (and it is, if you're not paying attention when felting!), a single needle holder, and a few fun things like a handmade ceramic alpaca magnet, alpaca socks, and a sweet ram sculpture made by an artist local to Asheville. It was a pretty good loot, a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, and I got to indulge my dreams of one day having a farm of my own, sourcing the fiber I need from my own backyard. 

Click through the gallery below to see photos from SAFF, my loot, and some more alpaca pics (okay, there's quite a few llamas in there too!)